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5,000–12,000 ft · MT🚗 Directions
Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir below treeline. Short but productive season due to extreme elevation. King boletes near timberline.
Updated Jul 13, 4:01 AM MT
**Beartooth/Absaroka: Tier A – Peak fruiting window, narrow margin** You're in the sweet spot: soil temps have stabilized at 58°F with seven consecutive days of moisture threshold met, and recent precipitation (1.91" over 14 days) has primed the substrate without oversaturation. The full melt at elevation means you've got bioavailable moisture persisting through the soil profile right now. True Morels, Birch Boletes, Indigo Milk Caps, and The Prince are your primary targets—all hitting high viability simultaneously. This is rare convergence at altitude. The desiccation risk is your clock: mid-July alpine sun and low relative humidity will evaporate that 0.28 VWC fast. You've got maybe 3–4 days of optimal conditions before soil moisture dips below threshold for the broader cohort. Chaga and Reishi as backup targets extend your window since they tolerate drier conditions better. Watch the next 48 hours—if temps spike above 65°F without supplemental precip, pivot to north-facing slopes and dense timber where moisture persists longer. **Hot tip:** Hit the south-facing morel zones between 8,000–10,000 ft *today*—they fruit first and hardest when conditions are this tight, before the window compresses.
Generated by Claude (Anthropic) from the structured weather, soil, and phenology data on this page. The LLM can misread edge cases — treat this as a starting hypothesis, not a guarantee. Always verify conditions on the ground before committing to a long drive.
Precip 7d
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Custer Gallatin National Forest
Custer Gallatin National Forest
⚠ Road Access Notice
Always verify road access is public before following GPS directions to mountain areas. Many forest roads are seasonal, gated, or require 4WD. Dispersed camping follows USFS/BLM rules (typically 14-day limit). Check ranger district offices for current road and campground conditions.
0.39"
PRISM 4km · thru 07-11
Precip 14d
Observed precipitation from PRISM 4km gridded analysis, sampled at the region centroid through 2026-07-11. Used when no SNOTEL/SCAN station is mapped to this region.1.91"
PRISM 4km · thru 07-11
Soil Temp
59°F
SWE
Snow Water Equivalent — how much water is in the snowpack vs. normal. Declining SWE means snowmelt is adding moisture to the soil.0%
Drought
None
Snowmelt
complete
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 59°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.24 VWC, 7d avg 0.28 — moisture sustained)
Primordia readiness: Cold = mycelium dormant. Activating = soil warming, primordia building. Primed = 5+ sustained warm days at species threshold; fruiting imminent if moisture cooperates. Based on Schmidt 1983 / Mihail 2007.